


Communication Breakdown

by ZaliaChimera



Category: Zombies Run!
Genre: Alternative Sexuality, Arguing, Cunnilingus, F/M, Hand Jobs, Insecurity, Laughter During Sex, M/M, Multi, Oral Sex, Romance, Sexual Experimentation, Sexual Identity, Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-07
Updated: 2013-06-07
Packaged: 2017-12-14 04:43:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/832881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZaliaChimera/pseuds/ZaliaChimera
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Love is not so simple as a sliding scale or points on a graph. You'd think this stuff would get easier after the end of the world. Luckily Jack doesn't give up easily.</p>
<p>Mild spoilers for Season 2, Side Missions 1-3.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Communication Breakdown

“So then I said to him-” 

Jack trails off in the middle of the story when he sees Bella's eyes widen, a little worried, and he rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. “What? Is there a horde of zoms behind me?” he asks, and maybe it's not the most tasteful joke considering present company, present situation and, well, everything about the entire world right now but...

He glances over his shoulder and oh! He beams at Eugene standing there although it fades a little at the dark expression on his partner's face. “Hey 'Gene, didn't see you there,” he says. 

“Apparently not,” Eugene replies, something sour in his voice as he looks between them.

Bella clears her throat and pats his shoulder lightly. “I should head off. Work to do, you understand.” She gives him a smile that's a little tight and that's not normal is it? “Good day, Mr Woods.” And then she's gone and Jack is, well, really confused.

Still, he brightens as he approaches Eugene and he leans in to give him a kiss. He really can't get enough of it now, not after those weeks of not knowing and worry. Eugene's lips are tight and unhappy beneath his, but they soften after a moment and he makes a soft noise of need which makes Jack press closer like he can bind them together just like that. It leaves him a little breathless honestly, with the way that Eugene's free hand fists into the back of his t-shirt like that.

“Alright, love?” he asks, murmuring the words against Eugene's mouth.

“I'm fine Jack,” Eugene says, but he doesn't sound fine. He is intimately familiar with the sound of Eugene's voice and that is not the voice he uses when he is fine.

Jack pulls back a little, searching his face, reaching up to smooth his thumb against the frown-lines around his mouth. Eugene turns his head away and sighs, shoulders slumping in defeat. Jack can't even bring himself to feel triumphant. “What's wrong?”

“You mean beside the zombie apocalypse and the destruction of civilisation as we knew it?” Eugene asks, a hint of a smile appearing.

“Well, yeah, besides the obvious,” Jack says, giving his own lopsided smile in response. “I think that just counts as a normal day now.”

Eugene shakes his head and leans in for another kiss, this one slower and less desperate and they hear someone whistle from across the courtyard. Jack sticks up two fingers at Simon, and it is Simon, he's sure of it, and dips Eugene back to kiss him until he's laughing and breathless.

“Alright, alright!” Eugene says, letting Jack help him back upright and leaning against his chest while Jack kisses the top of his head.

“Going to tell me?” 

Eugene rolls his eyes, giving Jack a faintly annoyed look. “Mmm, not here.”

“Oh well, look at the time,” Jack says, giving an exaggerated look at the non-existant watch on his wrist. “Lunch time already?

“Get a room!” a voice that is _definitely_ Simon's calls across the yard.

“Working on it!” Jack calls back, flashing a grin at Eugene as they head towards their building.

It's slower going than it would have been a few weeks ago; there's still rubble lying around from the attack, the ground uneven, but they make it and it's honestly an effort of will to not just push Eugene down onto the camp bed and make up for lost time. Again. But no, they need to talk and god, it's a bad situation when Jack's being the responsible one.

He perches on the edge of the cot while Eugene arranges himself and then insinuates himself into Eugene's personal space with ease born of long practice. Eugene gives a long-suffering sigh, but leans against him, arm sliding around his waist and up beneath the hem of his t-shirt.

“What's wrong, love?” Jack asks, face pressed into the crook of Eugene's neck, nudging against shaggy curls.

“It's stupid,” Eugene mutters, and Jack might believe him if not for the bitterness in his voice.

“I tell you plenty of stupid stuff. Remember that dream? The one about the cheetah?”

That raises a small smile, although it fades quickly. “You flirt with her, you know?”

“What?” Jack says, jerking back to look Eugene in the face. “I don't flir- who am I flirting with?”

Eugene gives him the Look, the same one that he'd given him when Jack had asked if he lived in a log cabin that had been followed with a protest of 'I'm from Vancouver, dumbass!'. Really, Jack had been grossly lied to by TV.

“Bella. You've been flirting with her since she got here. Since _before_ she got here.”

“Bella. _Bella_?” His mind comes to a grinding halt for a moment as he tries to process that. “You do remember that I am gay, right? You know? Not into women.”

“Well, that's what you told me,” Eugene says, sounding wary.

“I thought my attempts to play tonsil hockey with you at every opportunity might have given you a hint. And that's before we get to the hand jobs, blowjobs, frottage and- we're been creative, is what I'm saying.”

“Don't be crude,” Eugene says, wrinkling his nose in a way that Jack finds utterly adorable. “You could be bi.”

“If I could not get off with a woman as a drunk and desperately horny sixteen year old, then I'm pretty sure that it isn't going to happen while I'm stone cold sober in the middle of the zombie apocalypse.”

“Wait, you tried sex with a woman? You never told me that.”

“Well, it wasn't one of my finer moments. Ended up wanking in the bathroom to a poster of David Bowie.”

“...that explains so much,” Eugene says dryly.

“Oy! You, sir, are a scoundrel, mocking my formative influences.”

It makes Eugene laugh, and that's great, he can deal with this. It's easy, normal, the quick banter and loving insults.

“So yeah. Gay. Settled now?”

“Yeah,” Eugene says, but there's a twist to his lips that belies the answer, still unhappy and tense.

Jack kind of wants to leave it at that, but anxiety curls deep inside him and he- he just _can't_ , not when he remembers Eugene's voice sharp with fear over the radio. “What are you worried about, 'Gene?”

Eugene makes a harsh noise, somewhere between a laugh and a sob. “Weeks, Jack. I thought you were dead for- for _weeks_ and then I find you and... I just- part of me thinks I'd be happier if you were only interested in her physically, I mean, she's gorgeous and-”

“Wait- I- You think I actually lo-” It feels like a lead weight settles into his stomach and he can't finish the word.

“Yeah. I do.”

“That's crazy!”

“Is it?” Eugene asks, meeting his gaze with sharp intensity. “The nicknames and teasing and ridiculous conversations. Offering to help her at every opportunity.”

“Oh come on. That's just- I just want to help her settle in and it's not my fault she was a devoted fan of Thundercats as a child.”

There's that Look again, but less amused and more- well, if Jack had to guess he'd say that it's fear but that can't be right. Not when they've faced zoms and broken legs and risky medical procedures together. “Alright,” he concedes, “maybe it is flirting. A little bit. But I- I flirt with Simon all the time! You don't get like this.”

“I don't think trying to outdo each other with the cheesiest pickup lines really counts but...” Eugene sighs, shoulders slumping and when he speaks next, there's something shattered in his voice like broken glass and it hurts to hear. “You don't hear it but it- it's the same way you talked to me when we were travelling. Like you do now. Never heard you talk to someone else like that so what am I supposed to think?”

Jack opens his mouth to protest, to deny it, but the words die on his lips, little fragments of memory coming back to him and oh- oh god, no. He's right isn't he? He likes to call her Bellatrix and she does a mean Helena Bonham-Carter crazy witch impression. He kind of liked the hand holding they'd done back at the house, her guiding him around. He likes the teasing, the easy affection, that she isn't afraid to call him a dumbass and...

“Not so crazy, is it?” Eugene asks quietly, his voice small and tight and hurt.

“Oh god Eugene,” Jack says, still a little poleaxed by the realisation. “I don't- I never thought... I mean, I don't like women. Never have and- I love _you_!”

“But you like her too,” Eugene says emphatically. “And I- I don't know what to do with that.”

Jack pulls back, a little hurt and unable to keep it from showing. “There's nothing _to_ do with it, 'Gene,” he says and he just wants Eugene to smile at him. He wants things back how they had been. Not Before before, but before the attack. “I'm not going anywhere.” And trying to ignore that he had gone somewhere, not too long ago.

“But what if you do?” Eugene says, turning that hurt look onto him and damn, that... that just isn't fair. “It's the end of the world. Crazy whirlwind romances aren't uncommon. People together under pressure...” He spits the words and then blanches, going even paler than normal as it hits him, what he's saying. He gives Jack a kind of stricken look. “Jack... I don't-”

Jack just stares for a moment, sure that he's just as pale and he feels a little sick. “Is that- you think that about us?” And it's not like the thought hasn't crossed his mind before, you cling to the first person who clicks in an emergency, fall hard with a crazy, intense white hot love that burns hot and fast.

But it's been over a year and he'd thought... he'd _hoped_ and now it feels like someone's ripped the floor out from beneath him.

“No!” Eugene says, but it rings hollow after those words. “No, Jack, of course I don't!”

“But you've thought about it, right?”Jack says quietly, something sullen entering his voice. It's an old tone, one he's not had much use for since the apocalypse. It makes him sound younger, childish, his mother had said.

“ _Jack_ ,” Eugene says, a hint of pleading in his voice. “I- alright, maybe. But then you were gone and I thought- I thought you were dead and I couldn't stand it.”

Jack wets his lips, gives a short, harsh bark of laughter, shaking his head. “Another life or death deal there, Eugene. Not exactly confidence building.” It's sharp and cruel maybe, and he wants to take it back almost immediately when Eugene's eyes turn dark with hurt.

“Jack-” Eugene begins and then looks away, a bitter smile twisting his lips. “Just- forget it. I'm going for lunch. We'll talk later.”

Jack watches as he leaves, dreads whatever it is they're going to talk about.

\----------

They don't talk that night, and Eugene lies still and unresponsive when Jack climbs onto the cot next to him. He knows that he isn't asleep. His breathing is far too consciously even for that and Jack knows his patterns by now. He normally sprawls for one thing, takes up more space than anyone should be able to, but now he's curled up small and tense next to him. They lie back to back and he doesn't know whether either of them actually sleep.

It gets easier over the next few days. Sort of. Things gentle between them, ease back into something comfortable and friendly.

It scares Jack witless. 

He isn't sure that they'd ever been just friends, is the thing. Reluctant companionship had given way to teasing flirtation and then fierce, bright affection and what he'd thought was love. But friendship?

And he's not even sure if it's him that keeps things light, when all he wants to do is cling and keep Eugene in his sight forever, or if Eugene's just realised something and is trying to ease the two of them apart. He's pretty sure that they're both trying not to hurt each other's feelings but he doesn't want to point it out because a clean break would make things so much worse.

“And then the water should filter thr- Jack? Are you listening?”

He looks up at the sound of his name, blinking at Bella for a moment and giving her a sheepish look. “Sorry. Just distracted.”

She frowns at him, bright concern obvious in her gaze. “You've been distracted an awful lot recently. It's somewhat concerning.”

Jack shakes his head, rubs the back of his neck. “It's nothing, just... stuff.” 

She arches an eyebrow, something that he'd thought only happened in movies, her lips pursed together. She's not at all like he'd expected she would be after he'd been rescued by Powell. You kind of have certain expectations of someone who lives in Downton Abbey and can trace their family line back to the Crusades. He'd expected more makeup and dresses, not practical and hard-wearing trouser suits and chemical engineering and a mean shot with a hunting rifle.

“I confess I had expected you and Eugene to be practically inseparable once you returned and while I enjoy the company, I am perhaps a little surprised by how much time you've been spending here. Especially over the last few days.”

Wow, she doesn't pull any punches does she? Doesn't suffer fools which is why it sort of baffles him that she doesn't mind him hanging around. “We're not joined at the hip, y'know,” he protests. Weakly. “We do our own things. Have lives and-” She's looking at him and he sighs, giving a small shrug. “Okay, yeah, you've got me. We've barely been out of each other's sight since the Apocalypse began but- it's just part of growing up, right? Developing as people and all that stuff they talk about when- oh god, I sound like we're breaking up don't I?” 

It's a somewhat chilling realisation and Bella gives it a moment of consideration, regarding him closely before replying. “Perhaps. Or perhaps you're simply transitioning to a more mature type of relationship. I couldn't possibly comment.”

“You want to.”

Her lips quirk up into a small, secretive smile that makes his heart flutter just a little. “Perhaps. Now... continuing what I was saying about the water treatment. We-”

He isn't sure what mad impulse drives him to do it, except that he thinks it's called temporary insanity and usually results in very attractive lawyers arguing with other attractive lawyers while the world watches. It's insanity of some kind anyway, when he leans in and kisses her. She makes a startled noise against his lips and then a moment later she's twisting, pushing him up against the wall and kissing _back_. She's good at it, actually, as far as kisses go, it's a good one. Her lips are soft and full and her skin doesn't have the telltale scratch of stubble and her jaw is more curved and her hands on his sides are small and kind of delicate seeming and... it's all completely fucking wrong.

She pulls back after a moment, a rueful look on her face, and looking him up and down. “That did absolutely nothing for you, did it?”

He gives a sheepish laugh, ducking his head, and it stings, how easy this is with Bella when it hasn't been with Eugene recently. “Sorry. I mean, you're very attractive and all but I-”

“Don't like women, I know.”

He gives her a slightly wounded look. “Hey, I could've been bisexual. With a strong strong strong preference for guys and yeah, I am completely and totally gay.”

She laughs softly and moves to lean back against the wall next to him., hands folded behind her back. “What brought this on anyway?” she asks, turning her head to look at him intently. “You've always seemed quite comfortable in yourself.”

Jack shrugs, staring up at the sky. It's endlessly blue right now, a summer sky and he remembers days when he'd just go and flop down on the grass in the park near uni, earbuds in, without fear of getting eaten. “According to Eugene, I act around you like I acted around him when we were first getting... close. I'm _flirting_ with you.”

“I'm flirting back. I hardly see the problem.”

Jack's eyes go wide a little at that, and he gives her a slightly wary look. “Oh. I'm not really sure whether that makes me feel any better,” he says bluntly, although it makes more sense now. Sort of. Maybe? “The point is...” Does he actually have a point? “Is that he's kind of right. I do like you. A lot. And I think it would be great to- to hold hands and go to see movies and be sickeningly romantic or at least heckle other romantics but I-” He shakes his head, completely uncertain as to where he's actually heading with this. “And it makes him think- I don't know. I worry. Like... like maybe it really was only desperation that brought us together.”

Bella is silent for a long moment, staring at him until he squirms and then she gives a heavy sigh and grabs his hand, twining their fingers together and tugging him off towards the comms shack. “Oh for the love of- _Boys_.”

Eugene is just leaving when they approach and Jack can see the moment when he spots their joined hands. His shoulders tense up and he hunches in on himself and all Jack wants to do is go over there and hug him until he stops looking like the bottom has dropped out of his worl- _Oh_.

“Well, I'm glad you're happy. No hard feelings, right, Jack?” he says with that sort of sullen viciousness to it and Jack would let go but Bella's hand closes more tightly around his as she steps up to Eugene. She looks gorgeously, terrifyingly fierce and he Jack can't help the way his heart skips a beat. 

“You,” Bella begins, her voice quiet but forceful, “are a colossal fool, Mr. Woods.”

“Apparently so,” Eugene mutters, but his gaze never leaves Jack and that makes Jack's heart _pound_.

“No, Eugene,” he begins. “It's not- it's not like that.”

“It kind of looks like it,” Eugene replies.

Bella rolls her eyes and finally drops his hand, giving them both a hard look. “Are you deliberately trying to sabotage your relationship, Mr. Woods? Or are you just blind enough to not notice when you're pushing someone away.”

Eugene sputters indignantly, looking between them, and then his shoulders slump and he looks utterly defeated for a moment. It shocks Jack, really. He'd never seen Eugene look like that, not even when he'd just lost the leg and there'd been shock and denial but never any sign that he'd just _given up_.

And yet, he's still frozen in place, hurt making his chest tight and it's Bella who takes the lead again. “Come with me. Both of you. This is not something to be discussed in the middle of the quad.”

She sets off with every sign that she just expects them to follow her. And it's not exactly unfounded because after a shared, rueful look, they do.

He matches his pace to Eugene's without thinking, up against one side of him, close enough to touch. “Eugene...”

“Don't,” Eugene says quietly, and there's a pleading note to his voice. “Just- don't.”

“Eugene, this is crazy!”

“You said that last time, Jack.”

“It's still true. And- and if you really didn't think there was something to what Bella said, then you would have argued till you were blue in the face, you stubborn bastard.” He's quiet for a moment and then, “Do you want me to leave? Is- is that what this is? You've realised it's just a- a 'thank god we've not been eaten by the undead' _thing_?”

“God, _no_ Jack,” Eugene replies, giving him a stricken look. “But... but you might.”

Jack opens his mouth to respond but they're at their building now and Bella's right, it isn't the kind of conversation to have in the quad.

She's sitting in their lone chair, Eugene's chair really, like it's a throne, like she owns the place, and just watches as they come in and Eugene settles on the bed, leaving Jack to hover awkwardly between them.

The silence drags out, taut and uncomfortable until Bella breaks it, her gaze fixed on Eugene. Her expression has softened a little, although it's still tight and unhappy and concerned and, it's for him, Jack realises with a jolt. “Why are you hurting Jack like this?” she asks quietly.

Eugene looks up at her, his mouth set into the stubborn line that Jack had fallen in love with all those months ago. “Why do you care?” 

Bella's expression darkens. “Because I happen to care rather deeply about his well being. Humans are not supposed to walk alone. You don't have to be the only person who watches out for someone. You don't have to be the only person who cares.”

“But if he loves someone else... I'm not that cruel, to make him think he has to stay.”

“Oh for- and that's your grand plan? Push him away by making him miserable?”

“He's got _you_ hasn't he?”

Jack hears their argument like it's on the other side of a screen or wrapped in cotton wool, something he's only vaguely connected to. It's an odd sensation, feels like he's drifting and he hates the disconnected feeling. And then finally something snaps inside him, some tension that's been building up for weeks, ever since he first heard Eugene's voice over the radio back in the House.

“Excuse me,” he says quietly, but firm, and they listen to him is the thing, both turning to face him, “but don't I get a say in this?”

It's Eugene who speaks first, leaning forwards. “Of course you do Jack just- I wanted to make it easier for you.”

“No,” Jack says, fixing Eugene with an annoyed look. “No, you were trying to make the decision _for_ me, 'Gene.” He scrubs a hand across his face and he's just so _tired_ of this. “I know I'm not exactly the most responsible or mature person Before, but I am an adult. I can make choices and I don't see why I even have to choose. Why can't I love both of you? Why do I have to decide that it's one or the other?”

Eugene gives him a confused look and Jack wants to reach out, wipe away the uncertainty from his face. Bella looks a little more composed, unsurprisingly, but even she seems taken aback at the idea of him loving her. But he does. In some odd way that he's still trying to figure out. “That's not how things work, Jack,” Eugene says.

“Why not?” Jack asks bluntly. “We're in the middle of the Zombie Apocalypse. _That_ wasn't how things worked either up until, what, a year ago? Why _can't_ I want to be happy with two people?” He gives them both a lopsided smile that does nothing to hide his uncertainty. “Not like any of us have a whole lot of people to be close to right now, is it?” So you concentrated all of that care and affection fiercely onto the ones you had.

“That sounds lovely,” Bella says, voice gentle, “but it isn't just about you.”

“Jack...” Eugene says warily, obviously trying to work out if this is some kind of trick, a way of slowly distancing them from each other, like Eugene hasn't already been doing that himself.

“I love you, Eugene,” Jack says bluntly, smiling at him.” God, you've seen how I get when you're not there and it isn't pretty. Why would I give you up willingly?”

There's silence for several moments and Jack swears he can hear the pounding of his heart loud in his ears. Eugene just _looks_ at him and it makes him want to squirm. 

When Eugene does speak, it's slowly, carefully, and his gaze flits between Jack and Bella, like he's expecting them to bolt, or maybe laugh at him, the butt of a joke. “If, _if_ we were going to do this, how would it even work?”

Ah. And there reality comes crashing down on them. “Uh... I hadn't actually thought that far ahead. Or any way ahead,” Jack says sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Right. Bella?” Eugene asks, glancing over at her.

Bella gives a helpless shrug. “Don't ask me. I did operate a strict policy of what mama doesn't know can't hurt her, when it came to certain exploits, but I've never engaged in something like this.”

“...is it wrong that I kind of want to hear about those exploits?” Jack asks.

Eugene's eyes have gone slightly wide and he clears his throat, looking away quickly, but Jack's already seen the flicker of interest there. “Very inappropriate,” Eugene mutters.

Jack sighs and chews pensively on his lip for a moment. “Well, in a non post-apocalyptic zombie wasteland, I'd just ask if you wanted to go to the cinema to watch a terrible film. Get ice-cream. But there is a sad lack of both cinema and ice-cream these days.” Which was a damn shame.

“Well,” Bella says slowly, “I do have a laptop.”

“The rec room is being used for sleeping still, but I'm sure that people wouldn't mind watching something,” Eugene adds.

Jack beams. “I know Sam has a hard drive full of stuff!”

Eugene gives a wry smile which he tries to cover and fails miserably. “Alright then. I mean, can't hurt, right?”

“It'll be fine, 'Gene,” Jack says with a grin, because that's about as close to Eugene agreeing as he's likely to get.

It takes a bit of wrangling to organise, but they manage it. Everyone who isn't still in New Canton can use the morale boost. Even Janine doesn't object , although she sneaks in late and everyone studiously pretends not to notice her. 

Jack sits on the back row of the makeshift little cinema, Eugene's hand clasped in his and Bella's head on his shoulder as they watch something with plenty of satisfying explosions and terrible, but infinitely quotable dialogue.

Things don't exactly change after that, or at least, not in the big, earthmoving ways that Jack had kind of expected. Maybe the zombie apocalypse just makes everything else seem tiny in comparison.

Eugene positively ravishes him in bed, rough and hungry, like he's making up for lost time and if he leaves more marks than usual, bites visible on his neck above the collar of his t-shirt, well, Bella just laughs and runs her fingers over them, making them throb pleasantly.

He holds hands with Bella when he's helping her set up the water treatment plant, and she joins them for a talk when they finally get to do another broadcast. It's from New Canton, sure, not their own little shack, but it kind of feels like home anyway.

Bella joins them for meals too, sometimes, more and more frequently as the days pass until it's more strange to not find her there with them. She sits next to Jack, and sometimes between them, and she and Eugene lament the demise of various Five Star restaurants and foods that Jack has never even heard of. Whatever Lutefisk is, it sounds disgusting, but the way the two of them discuss the finer points of cuisine is really just... cute.

And then, of course, there's tonight.

Jack pushes aside the flap of the curtain that they're using in lieu of a door, and has a moment to just watch as Eugene and Bella kiss, he hands tangled in his hair and Bella's shirt is rucked up where Eugene has his hand up beneath it and Jack is fairly sure he can guess where it is. He grins and can't resist giving a round of applause. “Now that is a very pretty sight.”

Eugene springs away like he's been burnt, red faced and swollen lipped, giving him a look of utter mortification. “Jack, I- I wasn't- uh...”

Bella clears her throat, smiling slightly. She looks rather flushed too, and she manages to do that prettily too. “You are a very lucky man, Jack,” he murmurs and then makes at least a token attempt to pull down her top and straighten her bra.

“Don't I know it?” Jack says, looking between them both fondly. He's absolutely smitten with both of them. Eugene still looks a bit worried though, so Jack steps over to him, reaching up to touch his face gently. “It's alright, 'Gene. Really I thought it was pretty hot actually, watching you both.”

Eugene looks a little surprised, like he'd been expecting Jack to be pissed off. Jack is not entirely sure why, when he'd been the one to initiate this _thing_ between them. He brushes his thumb against Eugene's cheekbone, tracing the flush across his skin. “Are you sure?” Eugene asks warily.

“Would I lie to you?” Jack asks, the very picture of innocence.

“Well, there was that time you tried to convince me that you were related to the Queen...” Eugene says sceptically, a smile touching his lips.

“I was _drunk_! You can't take that as evidence!” he says with a grin, tucking himself against Eugene's side as he looks back at Bella and holds out a hand. After a moment she takes it and he draws her in as well. It's a little odd, having her pressed up against him, shoulders slimmer and curves in places where he's not exactly used to there being curves, but she feels nice anyway.

“Actually,” she says, sounding amused, “there is always a good chance that I am currently first in line for the throne. Not that there is any throne and I wouldn't want it anyway.”

Jack blinks at that. “What, seriously? You're related to the Queen?”

“Distantly, yes. We're not exactly on familial terms, even if she weren't currently an undead fiend.”

“Does this mean I have to call you your highness?” Jack asks, looking thoughtful.

Eugene elbows him in the ribs, grinning. “Stop it. Dumbass.”

Bella actually winks. “Why, Mr. Holden. I didn't realise you were into that sort of thing.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” Eugene says, smirking and sliding his free hand down over the curve of Jack's ass, squeezing slightly.

“Oh? Well, perhaps we should remedy this?” Bella suggests, a hint of uncertainty entering his voice.

“I think we should,” Eugene replies with that delightful hint of a purr in his voice that Jack loves so much.

“Why do I suddenly feel like I'm being ganged up on?” he asks, not that he's really complaining.

“I can't possibly imagine what you mean,” Bella says.

There's a twist and a push and then he's pressed up against Eugene's chest being thoroughly snogged, Eugene's lips hot against his own, and hungry, mixing in little nips, his fingers twisting in the hair at the nape of Jack's neck. But that's not all, not when Bella presses up against him from behind, her hands sliding around his waist to the buckle of his belt, starting to unfasten it deftly. He can feel the press of her breasts and her hips against him, unfamiliar but not unpleasant. She slides his belt out of the loops and drops it, then unfastens his jeans, starting to shove them down over his hips.

“You- you don't hold back, do you?” he asks breathlessly, when Eugene breaks off for air for a moment. Eugene's hand is up beneath his shirt, fingers sliding over his chest, tracing his ribs, making him shiver at the sensations.

“Why waste time?” Bella asks and god, he can feel her smile against his ear.

He is fairly sure that it's him that moans.

“How do we want to do this?” Eugene murmurs over his shoulder his hand still pressed against one of Jack's bare hips, tracing the hard line of bone.

“I have an idea, if Jack is amenable,” Bella replies, her breath warm against the back of his neck.

“Oh, I am up for pretty much anything right now,” Jack says.

Her hand rests against the front of his boxers and _squeezes_ , making him groan. “Yes, I can feel that.”

She pulls away, and he's honestly a little disappointed at that, and goes to sit down on the bed, shedding her shirt and trousers efficiently. Her underwear is plain and functional and he takes a moment to just look because he can tell when someone is attractive even if he doesn't feel actual attraction. “Come here,” she says, crooking a finger to beckon him over.

Eugene nudges him in that direction too, after stealing another kiss, and follows him, going to perch on the other end of the bed while he starts to undress. Bella pulls Jack down to straddle her hips and there's a moment of abject awkwardness because he's kind of half hard and pressed up against her stomach it just feels... kind of weird? Especially when he can't feel whether she's aroused. She laughs softly at his awkwardness, presses a kiss against his jaw and then tilts his head aside to face Eugene. “For god's sake Jack, watch your boyfriend undress. I certainly want to.”

That makes him snicker, and he presses his lips against her hair as he watches Eugene strip, and it is a nice sight, the broad shoulders from using the crutch and hauling himself around and god, he's missed this ease. It just feels right. Bella's hands trace idly across his back, slide down the length of his spine to his ass, dipping down the curve there and making him shiver.

Eugene grins over at them, slides off his trousers and underwear, and hauls himself up onto the bed, leaning against the wall. “Are you guys ogling me?”

“Yes,” Bella says cheerfully.

“Definitely,” Jack agrees and he and Bella share a smirk. “If I can't leer at my own boyfriend, who can I leer at?”

“Half of the runners during their workouts?” Eugene says teasingly.

“Oh come on! They just run around out there, all sweaty and well built. Like you don't do the same!”

“Never said I objected.”

“How are you at unfastening bras, Jack?” Bella asks, a coy smile on her lips as she squeezes his cock through his boxers, sending sharp pleasure right through him.

“Might have missed that lecture at uni, but it can't be too hard right?”

Eugene snorts as Bella guides his hands 'round to the clasp and it's just hooks, not that hard. Girls do it all the time, right? It takes a moment and then the hooks slide free and he can pull it off with Bella's help. “Better than most of my boyfriends.”

“Oh, that is just unfair,” Eugene says and Bella laughs brightly.

Jack blinks, looking rather baffled. “It's not hard. I don't know what all you straight guys are complaining about.”

“By the time we get to taking the bra off, we're usua- never mind. C'mere you.”

Bella skirts her fingers lightly over Jack's cheek and jaw. “Bossy, isn't he?”

“Isn't it great?” Jack replies and he knows that he's got a dopey grin on his face.

She gets this wicked look on her face and then grasps his hands, raising them to rest against her breasts. His brain sort of grinds to a halt for a moment, because he has absolutely no idea what to do now because yeah, his whole experience of boobs is one drunken fumble when he was sixteen. “Uh...”

“Oh god, you are _evil_ ,” Eugene groans and that's enough to break Jack's temporary brain freeze. He grins back at Bella and squeezes her breasts. She winces, and okay, that is not quite the reaction that he'd been hoping for, but she just wraps her hands around his, starting to move them, kind of kneading. 

“Gently,” she murmurs. “It's not kneading bread.”

He can't help it, that makes him burst out into helpless giggles, leaning forward to rest his forehead against Bella's. The whole situation seems vaguely ridiculous and he's glad that Bella knows what she's doing because he doesn't have a damn clue. Bella leans in to kiss him, something gentler, less tongue-full than their last attempt had been, but it feels a bit more intimate too. 

“Touch me,” she says softly, “and watch him,” she adds, looking over at Eugene who has his hand wrapped around his cock, stroking it lazily. That makes his mouth go dry, gaze raking over Eugene's body, the contours that he knows so very well. 

Bella lies back on the bed, pulling him with her and for a moment he just looks down at her, bare breasts and flat stomach and curves and he doesn't _want_ her, but damn, he wants to make her feel good. He slides his hands down over her ribs, gentle, too gentle? And he hasn't felt this awkward with someone in a really long time. He can feel Eugene's gaze on him, dark and hungry when he hooks his thumbs into Bella's underwear and tugs it down to reveal dark curls and sharp hipbones and he kind of stares for a moment, must look like a right numpty. 

It's Bella's turn to laugh, high and bright and pretty and she guides his hand down between her legs, feeling warmth and slickness and his fingers brush against her in a way that makes her shudder beneath him and even he can tell that that's a good sign. He gets a look of intent concentration on his face as he slides his fingers up and in, tongue poking out between his lips and-

“Oh for... Jack!” Eugene says, and Jack looks round, kind of startled out of his concentration. “You're trying to have sex, not conducting a medical examination.”

Jack huffs, amused and Bella snickers softly, patting his hand. “He has a point,” she says.

Jack rolls his eyes and holds out a hand to Eugene. “Well, Mr. Woods. If you are such an expert on pleasing a lady...”

“Actually, I rather think that I'm the expert here,” Bella says, “but he'll do in a pinch.”

“Well, don't I feel loved,” Eugene says dryly, but lets Jack help to pull him over. He ends up lying next to them, Bella's fingers threading through his hair as he takes one of Jack's hands in his own., lacing their fingers together. Eugene's movements are a hell of a lot more confident as he moves Jack's hand across Bella's body and Jack can see the heated look in his eyes at every gasp and moan that they drag out of her. 

“Good?” Eugene asks, gaze upturned to her face as they touch her, stroking over her clit and pressing up inside, twisting their fingers until she groans, voice going breathy and sweet. She gives a fervent nod, fingers twisting in Eugene's hair just hard enough to make him moan and god, Jack loves that sound. 

He ducks down, lips near Bella's ear, breath tickling against her neck. “He likes it a bit rough. Likes hands in his hair when he's sucking someone off.”

She laughs, breathless, and tugs again so that Eugene makes another of those sweet sounds. “Is that so?” she asks, voice a husky purr that makes them both shudder. 

“Is that a hint?” Eugene says, resting his head against her hip and peering up at them, eyes dark and lips damp with spit.

“If you want it to be,” Bella replies, giving a little tug to Eugene's hair, helping to get the idea across pretty well Jack thinks.

“Oh, I want it to be.” 

“No complaints from me,” Jack says and he slips away from Bella to lie next to her, cupping the back of Eugene's neck and pulling him up for a lingering kiss. Eugene hums softly against his lips, tongue flicking out against his.

“What a nice view,” Bella says, and she strokes her hand down Eugene's side, over his arms, and shoulders, every bit of skin she can touch.

Eugene pulls away finally, giving him a grin and then begins to kiss his way down Bella's body. Jack watches with heavy lidded eyes, face pressed against Bella's neck and it's his turn to guide now. He takes Bella's hand, small and slim in his own, but rough-calloused just the same, and rests it against Eugene's head, curling her fingers into his hair. “You can tug. He makes some really nice sounds,” Jack says, smile curving against her neck, tongue flicking out to taste her skin.

She gives an experimental pull and Eugene groans, shuddering a little. “You two are just gonna drive me crazy, you know?”

“That's rather the idea,” Bella says, her words trailing off into a low moan of pleasure as Eugene's head dips between her legs, and Jack can just see the way he pokes his tongue out to lick her. 

Bella's hand clenches and tightens in Eugene's hair, her other hand curling against the back of Jack's neck, nails scraping against his skin as Eugene pleasures her. It's kind of... well, really hot actually, watching Eugene go down on her, watching her chest rise and fall with erratic breaths. A hot flush crosses his face and he squirms a little, boxers suddenly feeling far too constricting over his hard cock. He presses his hand against once of her breasts, caressing and kneading like she'd shown him she liked and is rewarded with the way she arches against him.

“God,” Jack says, surprised by how strained his own voice sounds. “You two are... wow.” His eyes are a little wide as he watches them, the curl of Eugene's hand against her hip, Bella's fingers wrapped in his hair, the moves and noises they both make...

He stifles his moan against her neck and knows that he isn't fooling anyone.

Jack feels the moment when Bella comes, the tense and shudder of her body against them, the tightening of her grip and way she cries out and then the boneless slump back down onto the bed between them. “ _Fuck_ ,” she says eloquently and it's the first time that Jack has heard her swear, even when they'd been trapped in a house full of zoms so he laughs softly, pressing a soft kiss against her lips. She murmurs something mostly unintelligible and drags him back down for another kiss, a little deeper but not unpleasant.

Eugene is looking up at them, head resting against Bella's hip, gaze dark and hungry, a lazy smirk on his lips. It's a very hot look for him. He drags himself up so he's level with them and kisses Bella softly for a moment before dragging Jack in for one. His tongue presses into Jack's mouth, deep and demanding and _god_ , he can taste her on Eugene's tongue. He gives a soft moan, cupping Eugene's face in his hands, holding him close.

“Now who's putting on a rather lovely show?” Bella murmurs, watching them both with eyes half lidded and hungry. She pulls herself up into a sitting position, stretching so that they can both see the way her body moves, the pull and flex of muscles. Jack smirks, seeing Eugene's gaze linger for a long moment.

“That's us,” Jack says, grinning, “consummate showmen. So what should we do for the next act, 'Gene?”

Eugene, turns back, looking down as Jack's now rather obvious erection. “I have a few ideas.”

“Please, go ahead. I do love a good performance,” Bella says.

Eugene halls himself back to sit next to her and beckons Jack over with a crooked finger and a look that makes heat pool in his belly. Jack follows, and he'd like to say he crawled seductively over to him, but the bed's too small for that, so it's more like he just climbs into his lap, legs splayed wide on either side of his hips.

“Pants off,” Eugene says, waiting for Jack to kneel up before he tugs the offending article of clothing down, giving Jack just enough time to kick them off before he hauls him in for another deep and lingering kiss. He can feel Bella's gaze on them all the while and maybe gives a little wriggle at the though, pressing his cock against Eugene's.

Eugene wraps his hand around both of their cocks, giving them a firm stroke and Jack groans, lowering his head to rest against Eugene's shoulder, eyes squeezed tight shut. Eugene's lips press against his hair, soft in comparison to the rough strokes and Jack bucks against his hand.

“Good?” Eugene murmurs and Jack gives a quick nod.

“So fucking good,” he groans, arms sliding around Eugene's body, pulling him close.

“You want to touch?” Eugene says, and that confuses Jack for a moment, because he kind of _is_ touching, but then there's another, smaller hand wrapping around his cock, a double-time rhythm set up and _oh_ , that's Bella touching him. It feels good anyway, and right now that's what he cares about, forget confusing questions about sexuality that he isn't sure even matter anymore.

“You two are going to be the most horrible teases, aren't you?” he grumbles, the words trailing off into a low moan when Bella's thumb rubs across the slit of his cock and Eugene's free hand moves to fondle his balls.

“I think so.”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

Eugene's smile curls against his ear, couples with the tug of teeth on his earlobe and then Bella presses up against his back, arms wrapped around his waist to hold him still as they _torment_ him, stroking and squeezing, one hand tweaking a nipple until he can barely tell which one of them is touching where except that it feels good, so good.

He cries out as he comes hard, the sound muffled against Eugene's shoulder, and Eugene comes a moment later, shuddering against him, skin slick with sweat and warm against him. Bella nuzzles against the back of his neck and he feels so comfortable like that, trapped between them that he only moves when Eugene groans about him being heavy and his legs start to protest the position. 

Extricating himself is a little more difficult when there's two of them, and both of them are champion clingers apparently, like octopi and he laughs at Bella's protest as he gropes over the side of the bed for the rag that they use for cleanups. He wipes off their stomachs, and passes it to Bella for her hands.

“I cannot wait for next shower day,” Eugene says, grimacing at the lingering stickiness on his skin as he lies down, stretching out on the bed and pulling Jack with him. Bella looks uncertain for a moment, until Eugene snags her around the waist, pulling her down against his other side. It's a tight fit, even with two cots pushed together, but they manage it, all curled together. She smiles and settles down, dragging the covers over the three of them. Jack's pretty certain they can fit a third cot in the room when they get around to it. And more blankets. 

“Oh my, hot showers whenever you want,” Bella says dreamily. “Now there's something I rather miss.”

“God, _don't_ ,” Jack groans, reaching over to bat idly at both of them. “Bloody sadists.”

“If I wanted to be sadistic, you'd know about it,” Eugene says, smirking at him and kissing him lightly.

“Promises promises.”

Bella laughs softly and curls against Eugene's other side, throwing an arm over them both, fingers stroking against Jack's shoulder idly.

Eugene lets out a slow breath, kisses Bella's forehead and then does the same for Jack who can't seem to stop grinning. He likes the feeling, he likes this, both of them in bed with him. It's just really really nice. “I am a genius,” Jack says smugly.

Eugene raises an eyebrow and give a soft snort. “What, feeling like some kind of chess master for giving me every bisexual's dream?”

“Maybe,” Jack says cheekily. He closes his eyes, snuggling down against him. “Just... happy. Really happy.”

Eugene is silent for a moment and then nods. “Yeah. Me too.”

Bella gives a sleepy noise of agreement, squeezing Jack's shoulder gently. “Absolutely.”

He almost doesn't want to fall asleep, wants to savour the moment between them, but eventually the long day and _spirited_ evening catches up with him and he falls asleep thinking that maybe everything will be okay.


End file.
